Controversy erupted during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Norway amid his multi-nation tour. At a joint press appearance alongside Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store on May 18, he was accosted by Norwegian journalist Helle Lyng.
Lyng, who works for the Oslo-based paper Dagsavisen, shared a video of herself asking, “Prime Minister Modi, why don’t you take some questions from the freest press in the world?”
She captioned the post, “Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, would not take my question; I was not expecting him to. Norway has the number one spot on the World Press Freedom Index, India is at 157th, competing with Palestine, the Emirates and Cuba. It is our job to question the powers we cooperate with.”
Following this, an X account called Tactical Tribune, which regularly posts pro-Pakistan and anti-India content, claimed that Helle Lyng had in fact asked Modi about Pakistan shooting down India’s fighter jets, which he supposedly failed to answer. The account shared Lyng’s video and wrote, “Indian PM failed to answer after a Norwegian journalist asked how many jets they lost against Pakistan.” The claim was amplified by other Pakistan-based accounts. You can view them here and here.
Here are the facts
All of Helle Lyng’s recent posts on X are related to the press meeting. However, we did not see a single post stating that she specifically had asked Modi about Pakistan shooting down Indian fighter jets.
To further verify, we checked the video of the press meet published by Dubai-based DRM News, American Public Television, and India’s ANI. Both leaders spoke and did not take any questions. All three outlets showed them walking off the stage after. However, in the DRM News video, Lyng could be heard asking at the end, “Prime Minister Modi, why don’t you take some questions from the freest press in the world?” We did not find any footage of her asking about Pakistan downing Indian fighter jets.
We also searched for reports about Modi not responding to Lyng’s query on Pakistan, but did not find anything credible. A question on Pakistan to the Indian prime minister would have been widely reported by the international media.
Therefore, we concluded that Pakistan-based accounts are spreading disinformation.
After the press meet
The Hindu’s Suhasini Haidar, in a May 18 post, stated that the Norwegian media objected to the prime ministers of both countries not taking questions.
In her May 19 report, however, she noted that PM Store spoke to Norwegian journalists after seeing off PM Modi. She also reported that Store met Indian journalists and took their questions after a business event on May 18.
Following the Helle Lyng episode, Sibi George, Secretary at the Ministry of External Affairs, spoke to reporters during a press briefing. Addressing concerns about human rights violations, he emphasised that India is a constitutional democracy that protects individual liberties and celebrates diversity.
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